Statistics Canada released the latest job numbers Friday morning, and the unemployment rate for southeast Saskatchewan as a whole was up in the month of August. The data, not adjusted for seasonality, shows 1600 fewer people were working in the Regina-Moose Mountain economic region, which includes Weyburn and Estevan. This increased the unemployment rate from 5.9 percent in July to 6.1 percent. Year-over-year, the unemployment rate for the region was also up, going from 5.4 percent to 6.1 percent.
The majority of the job losses in the region were in Regina, where 1100 fewer people were working. This meant there were just 500 fewer people working in the areas outside of the capital city within the economic region.
For the parts of the economic region outside of Regina, the unemployment rate, based on the data from Statistics Canada, was 3.4 percent, up slightly from July’s mark of 3.3 percent, and well below the 5.7 percent of August of last year.
With the increase in the unemployment rate, southeast Saskatchewan now has the second highest unemployment rate of any of the province's economic regions, behind Prince Albert and Northern Saskatchewan.
The unemployment rate for the province as a whole was 5.4 percent in August, unchanged from July, but up from 5.0 percent in August 2023. The data showed overall 2700 fewer people were working in Saskatchewan, with that being primarily through losses in part-time employment, which was down by 4900. This was offset by 2300 more people working full-time. The unemployment rate was also the lowest in the nation.
In terms of the industries where the growth and losses were, Statistics Canada indicated roughly 600 more people were working in construction in August compared to July, and 2200 more people in manufacturing. Most of the job losses came in services-producing sectors, such as wholesale and retail trade, health care and social assistance, and accommodation and food services.
The employment rate, or the percentage of the population of 15 who are actively working, did decline in August, falling from 64.1 percent to 63.6 percent. Saskatchewan was one of three provinces to see a decline in that number, along with British Columbia and Newfoundland & Labrador.
Nationally, the employment rate increased from 6.4 percent to 6.6 percent.